


Little Moments

by QueenEgg



Series: Kingdom Eternal [9]
Category: Hollow Knight (Video Game)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Hornet tries to teach her daughter the art of Weaving, Multi, and FanBabies, cuteness, except her daughter is two so it goes about as well as you'd expect, i hope you guys like mother/daughter bonding, so much fluff you guys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-24
Updated: 2018-02-24
Packaged: 2019-03-22 22:15:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13773681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenEgg/pseuds/QueenEgg
Summary: Hornet spends a day with Nymp.





	Little Moments

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little bit of sweetness before we get to the main part of this AU! Hope ya'll enjoy!

Hornet didn’t normally enjoy spending time in the presence of others she wasn’t familiar with. Even when she lived in deepnest, both at the heart of the distant village and among the kingdom’s weavers, she’d never felt comfortable attending to more than two or three spiders at a time. As the new Queen of Hallownest, she’d slowly had to overcome her reluctance to interact with her citizens as she juggled the negotiations for two kingdoms at once.

More often than not, she found herself seeking solitude when she wasn’t busy- which was becoming increasingly rare. The few treasured moments she got to spend with Ghost and Quirrel had also decreased when the couple had their pips, and even then, she’d ignored the longing she possessed for their attention. Except now, there was also the matter of-

Almost as if he was summoned by her thoughts, Quirrel stumbled into the room, Nymp clutched tenderly in his arms.

“Hornet, love, I’m afraid I have to leave Nymp here for the day. One of the new acolytes wasn’t paying attention and accidentally let all the archive’s uomas and oomas into the canyon, so I have to help get them back inside.” He gasped out, before holding their daughter out for her to take. Forcing her discomfort down, Hornet reached for her child and tried not to wince when she brought Nymp’s tiny body in close to her chest. “Ghost and I will return shortly, and she’s already been fed so all you have to do is make sure she-”

Quirrel’s frantic speech was interrupted when Ghost slid into the room and gently pulled on their husband’s arm after giving Hornet a brief wave. “Ah, you’re right dear, we really need to go. We’ll be back later, Hornet, take care!” With the billowing of their cloaks, both her partner and sibling fled the room almost as quickly as they came, the only evidence of their appearance being the child in her arms. Gazing down at her baby, Hornet stamped down the feelings beginning to well up in her chest. This was her daughter. Nymp shared a piece of her, and Hornet made a promise to keep her safe when she was but a glimmer of life still growing safely inside her eggshell.

Hornet was a Queen of two realms. She could look after a child- _her child_ -for an afternoon. Ghost and Quirrel had trusted her with their pips before, even if the five children were mostly self-sufficient. Nymp had already been fed, so that was one less task for her to complete. Except, Ghost had interrupted Quirrel before he could tell her what else she had to do.

Lifting her up to eye-level, Hornet whispered out a soft, “Do you know what your father was expecting of me when he left you here?” Nymp gave no reply except for the gentle swaying of her legs, which Hornet forced herself not to coo at. “Well, of course you wouldn’t have any idea. You’re still so young. Young and soft- and _helpless_.”

Somehow the thought that her child was completely defenseless as an infant left her feeling unsettled. What if there was no one around to watch her? What if Hornet couldn’t come to her aid for some reason and she was left alone? They were unreasonable thoughts, and _yet-_

Holding her daughter a little closer to herself, Hornet immediately recognized the familiar nagging sensation of uncertainty tugging at her thoughts. Nymp was much too young for a nail or armor, so how was she supposed to keep her safe? For not the first time, she was glad that her insistence on the secrecy of her and Quirrel’s relationship meant that the two were free to at least have some time with their daughter in peace. Quirrel and Ghost’s pips were quite universally beloved by all, but Hornet knew that the family did enjoy their privacy on the rare occasions when they had a chance to avoid being seen by the Kingdom’s growing populace.

As a result, she was glad she made the choice to give Nymp a life outside of the many prying eyes which yearned to know more about their Queen. It was only thanks to Hornet’s needle that she didn’t have to deal with being constantly bothered by those she was trying to protect. Fear made others keep their distance more than respect did.

Yet as it was, she didn’t even have the luxury of terrifying some of Hallownest’s more insufferable residents. Not when she had her daughter to care for.

Thankfully there was something to keep her busy. As she inspected Nymp’s current dress, Hornet realized that it had been some time since she’d last made a new garment for her child. Even though she was only soon to reach her third year of age, Nymp was growing fast, fast enough that her formerly floor-length cloak only reached her midsection.

“I suppose this answers the question of what we can do while your father and Ghost are out,” she mumbled, standing up and cradling the lively pip in one arm as she headed to where she kept her thread.

* * *

* * *

 

Hornet didn’t know why she didn’t make more time to spend on sewing projects. Although the art of weaving didn’t come to her as naturally as it did to the spiders of her homeland, she had a learned talent that carried over from when Herrah was still around to raise her. The memory of her mother teaching her how to use her nail for other purposes besides defending herself was one of the few she treasured dearly. There was something soothing in the methodic art of stitching together pieces of fabric to make something both beautiful and functional. There was also the added bonus that in this case, it meant that a part of her would always be with Nymp even if Hornet wasn’t there herself.

After the successful creation of four- no, _five_ -unique cloaks for her daughter, Hornet leaned back to admire her handiwork before realizing that the recipient of the newly made garments was nowhere to be seen. It was only thanks to years of keeping her emotions in check that Hornet was able to avoid panicking after not immediately catching sight of her daughter.

“Nymp? _Nymp?_ Where are you, my little threadspinner?” Hornet whispered, before standing slowly. Casting her gaze over her surroundings, she watched the room carefully until a faint movement in the corner of her eye drew her focus over to a pile of discarded fabric scraps which seemed to be making an attempt at crawling across the floor on its own. “Aha-!” With a soft noise of amusement, Hornet stepped over the remnants of her projects to where the heap of cloth was.

Once she’d pulled away a few layers of silken material, the familiar face of her only child appeared from beneath the excess material. Nymp giggled happily when Hornet swept her into her arms and spun them both around the room in two short twirls, her own joyful laughter overlapping with her daughter’s. After deftly undoing the clasp keeping Nymp’s old cloak around her shoulders, it only took a quick motion for Hornet to gather up one of the newly finished ones and secure it in place.

“There, now you’re dressed like a true princess of Hallownest,” she said. To her unspoken delight, Nymp lifted up the edges of the garment in her tiny hands and brought the hem up to rub against her cheek. This time, Hornet _did_ coo at the sight, right before picking up a few spare coils of silk and setting Nymp down on top of the bed. Sitting on the plush surface, Hornet leaned in close to her child, whispering conspiratorially.

“How would you like to learn to weave like mama?” In lieu of words, Hornet took Nymp’s excited nodding as a yes, handing her a pair of threads and showing her how to hold them in her hands. “Okay, watch me carefully now-”

She wasn’t expecting Nymp’s first attempt at weaving to be perfect in any way. Hornet knew that when Herrah had first tried to teach her how to manipulate thread in the most basic of manners, she ended up with something that better resembled the clumped up fur of a devout than an actual woven object.

Yet as it was, Nymp’s starting foray into her own mother’s culture resulted in a tangled, knotted mess of silk that was clearly beyond saving, even with Hornet trying her best to salvage the project along the way. This, of course, didn’t mean that Hornet didn’t accept the unidentifiable object without lavishing her daughter with praise and immediately placing it where it would be easily seen by any who entered the room.

However, it seemed that despite the briefness of the activity, Nymp was thoroughly worn out by the time Hornet had finished cleaning up the remnants of her work from earlier. The other four cloaks she’d made were safely hung up for later, and it was with a sigh of content that Hornet dusted herself off and turned around to find her pip already half asleep. Holding in a noise of endearment, she approached the bed as quietly as possible before climbing onto the bed as well and ignored how her mind revolted against the sensation of the blankets dipping beneath her.

Laying on her side, Hornet brought Nymp closer, marveling at how perfectly her tiny body fit in her arms. How had she and Quirrel managed to make such a beautiful thing together? Hornet didn’t know if she would ever find a real answer to that question. But instead of overthinking it as normal, she simply let all her thoughts drain out of her mind as she focused on the connection between her and her pip as she let sleep take hold.

* * *

* * *

“Yes I know it took us a bit longer than expected, and I’m sorry that your cloak got singed, but we’re back now and it doesn’t look like anything’s- oh!” Quirrel stopped himself short when he opened the door to Hornet’s bedroom as the sight of his lover and child asleep together caused a sudden warmth to bloom in his chest. “Well, would you look at that. I suppose it doesn’t matter now that I forgot to remind her to put Nymp down for her nap earlier, though we should let them have a few more moments of peace before we pick up the rest of the pips.” His delighted whispers were accompanied by Ghost’s mental echo of endearment as they committed the sight of their sister and her baby to memory.

Gently closing the door behind them, the couple left the mother-daughter duo to their rest, the image of Hornet lovingly curled around Nymp still in their minds.  


**Author's Note:**

> Oh boy ur all gonna kill me after the next one.


End file.
